Roll plow for woodland



0st. 16,, 1956 H. LAUENSTEIN 2,766,671

' ROLL PLOW FOR WOODLAND Filed March 3, 1952 INVENTOR. l "1% e n 3 ,3

United States Patent Oifice H 2,766,671 Patented Oct. 16, 1956 ROLL PLOWFOR WOODLAND Harald Lanenstein, Seelscheid, Siegkreis, Germany, as-

signor to N. V. Maatschappij tot Exploiteren van Octrooien en LicentiesMatepa, s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, a corporation of the NetherlandsApplication March 3, 1952, Serial No. 274,600 Claims priority,application Netherlands March 6, 1951 1 Claim. (Cl. 97-3) The inventionrelates to plows for use in clearing land which was at one timewoodland. Plows for use in stubby woodland of a known type, hereinafterreferred to as roller plows, were provided with two front rollersconnected by a system of draft bars to a vertical threaded spindle onwhich the plow beam is mounted by means of a sleeve like bearing memberso that the front rollers and the plow beam are relatively movablesideways. The threaded spindle serves for rendering the plow beamadjustable in a vertical direction so that in operation the plowconnected to the rear end of the plow beam may enter the soil more orless deeply.

The roll plows used for woodland hitherto known, are provided with aplow beam of which the part connected with the threaded sleeve ishorizontal so that this sleeve when in its lowest position, lies muchhigher than the axis of the front rollers. In such roller plows hithertoknown the front portion of the plow beam connected to said sleeve ishorizontal and said sleeve in its lowest position on the spindle islocated at a much higher level than the axis of rotation of the frontrollers, i. e. higher than the pulling point. The disadvantage of thisis that not only the relatively thin threaded spindle but particularlyalso the sleeve and the part of the plow beam connected therewith areunder a heavy bending load which often caused fractures in said heavilystrained places even with normal work but especially when strikingrootstocks, stones or the like. Moreover, because of the differentlevels of the working points of the pulling force on the draft bars onthe one hand and the reacting force on the spindle on the other hand,there occurs in the entire construction a torsional stress due to whichnot only the depth of penetration becomes uncontrollable in differentkinds of soil, but also the plow works on the point or the rear portionthereof.

Several types of construction have been used in an attempt to overcomethese disadvantages among them a chain and rod system with a tensioningclosure. However, in addition to being cumbersome and difiicult for theaverage worker to operate correctly, none of them have satisfactorilysolved the difficulties involved.

An object of the present invention is to obviate or mitigate the abovedisadvantages.

The roll plow for use in clearing land which was once woodland,according to the invention, is characterized in that the threaded sleeveis arranged substantially at the same level as the operating position ofthe plow when it is in operation.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows aroller plow in elevation.

Referring to the drawing, heavy rollers 1 are mounted in bearings atdraft bar 2 provided at the front with hook 3 and at its back with anupright threaded spindle support 21. The spindle 4 is rotatably but notaxially slidably arranged in support arms 5 and 6 extending verticallyabove and below the place of the draft bar, and

On the spindle 4 is arranged threaded sleeve 8 which may be adjusted inheight by rotating the spindle 4. In this embodiment the threaded sleeve8' is cast in one piece with a plow beam 9, the front edge 20 of whichis tapered. The plow beam is a curved, hook-shaped member, the long legof which extends forwardly and is integral with the threaded sleeve 8,and the short leg of which carries aplow 11. The'curvature of the plowbeam 9 is such that the threaded sleeve 8, the draft bar 2 and the axesof the rollers 1 may be aligned in the operative position oftheplow.-

On the plow beam a disc shaped coulter 10 is mounted which is positionedin front of the plow 11, so that when the plow strikes a rootstock or astone, the coulter raises the plow beam 9 with plow 11 so that thelatter slides over the obstacles.

On the rear of the plow beam 9 is cast a projection 12 upon which winch13 is arranged. A lifting device 14 is hingedly connected to projection12. By means of the winch 13 the level of two pressure rolls 16, whichare mounted on the ends of rods 15, which in turn are supported on theplow beam by ball points 17, may be adjusted by a cable attached to rod15. Pressure rolls 16 are tapered towards the middle of the furrow dugby plow 11, so that if one of the rolls strikes an obstacle sidewaysboth may swerve to the other side. Both pressure rolls are kept at adistance from each other by a spring (not shown) arranged between them.

The lifting device 14 and the rear of the plow beam 9 is supported onwheel 19 which is connected to the rear of the plow beam 9 by aconnecting piece 18. Actuation of the lifting device 14 raises or lowersthe rear of plow beam 9 and consequently permits adjustment of the levelof the plow 11 for transportation.

As a result of the invention the above mentioned high bending loads onthe plow beam, on the threaded spindle and on the threaded sleeveoccurring in the hitherto known construction are considerably reduced.

The plow beam is no longer horizontal but slanting. In very favorablecircumstances the threaded sleeve can be arranged so far down on thespindle that the direction of the pulling force working on the draftbar, the threaded sleeve and the direction of the resultant of the soilresistance are substantially on the same level when the plow isoperated. Thus the bending loads in the vicinity of the threaded sleeveand in the spindle in normal operation are much smaller than in thehitherto known plows so that when the plow strikes a rootstock or anencumbrance no fracture occurs in the place in question.

Due to the low positioning of the threaded sleeve, chain-work and anytensioning closure may be omitted and the plow beam and the threadedspindle may be cast or forged in one piece or they may be welded rigidlytogether. Preferably high grade electro cast steel is used.

Preferably the front of the plow beam, which was hitherto square, istapered. This has the advantage that the soil resistance is smaller andthe plow beam is still reinforced. A further advantage is that in thisway the plow is less easily clogged.

Because of the low positioning of the threaded sleeve and because thechain-work and the tensioning closure are omitted, not only the spindleitself can be kept very compact but also the entire draft bar system canbe kept very compact.

The reduced bending loads in the construction according to the inventionand the consequently diminished risk of fracture render the plowaccording to the invention very suitable for tractor propulsion, so thatnot only a greater work capacity is obtained but the plow may also beprovided with additional'pressure rolls 16 which in the hitherto usedplows for woodland'drawn by horses which had to be kept very light inweight, could not be used.

Such pressure rolls press on the sod directed sideways by the deflectingboards so that the soil does not fall back behind the plow as was'oftenthe case withthe known plows when the grass was thick.

I claim:

In a roller plow for stubby woodland having a plow, a disc coulter infront of the plow, a threaded sleeve in front of the coulter, a draftbar with an upright spindle support on the rear end thereof, a threadedspindle vertically rotatab ly mounted on said support on which saidthreaded sleeve is threaded, said spindle extending vertically above andbelow the plane of the draft bar, and a pair of heavy rollers mounted inbearings on the draft bar so that the axis of the rollers and the axisof the draft bar are in the same plane, that improvement com- I 4 tprising a curved hook-shaped plow beam the long leg of which extendsforwardly and is integral with said threaded sleeve and carries the disccoulter and the short leg of which carries the plow, the curvature ofsaid plow beam being such .that the threaded sleeve, the draft bar andthe axis of said rollers may be aligned in an operative position of theplow.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS377,800 Carpenter Feb. 14, 1888 433,373 Schuz July 29, 1890 870,451Mills Nov. 5, 1907 1,130,524 Kunik Mar. 2, 1915 1,298,385 Plurner Mar.25, 1919 1,857,700 Scakocs May 10, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS 485,098 GermanyOct. 26, 1929

